


Guns and Blades (Klance AU Month)

by stelliferous_sky



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Altean Lance (Voltron), Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Angst, Galra Keith (Voltron), Klance AU Month 2019, M/M, Merman Lance, Pining, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, galtean klance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-04
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-10-22 00:21:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 14,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17652482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stelliferous_sky/pseuds/stelliferous_sky
Summary: Follow Keith and Lance's adventures through alternate realities from colonies beyond the Quantum Abyss to a bustling train station.





	1. Day 1 - Coffee Shop

**Author's Note:**

> I've already posted these on Tumblr on time but I'm fashionably late to post them here. I probably won't be able to write for every day but I'd damn well try because this is fun. :)

  It’s by pure chance that Keith Kogane entered Oriande Cafe one fateful Friday while walking home after a shitty day of working at the child care. He’d pulled an all-nighter trying to finish his report for his uni course so he was already exhausted before he even got to the child care. Then not one, not two but three different kids threw up on him. A new three-year-old wouldn’t stop crying, which made two other kids start crying and this one girl kept trying to crawl up his legs the whole day.

  Contrary to popular belief, Keith loves kids and he has more patience for kids than literally any adult but this day was not his day. He was pissed by the time he stormed down the road to the bus stop, the temptation to just crawl up on the sidewalk and sleep was strong but blissful. Pure impulse alone had him slamming open the doors to the nearest coffee shop, which of course was Oriande.

  In the following weeks, Keith would come to appreciate the homey aesthetic they had going with cushions on some brown couches pressed against one wall, small potted plants and succulents on the wooden shelves and paintings of mundane things like flower pots and women drawing water from wells.

  That day, there was zero appreciation for decor.

  Keith marched up to the counter, eyes barely seeing anything, and ordered, “Black coffee.”

  The guy behind the counter looked a little baffled that some weirdo was ordering black coffee at four in the afternoon as Keith started fishing for his wallet in every pocket he had. “Sure,” the barista said. “Your name?”

  “Keith,” he grumbled and added under his breath, “I’m literally the only one in line.”

  Keith would like to say that for the record, he wasn’t usually that rude. He was just having difficulty finding his wallet and with his life in general.

  The barista – Lance, his name tag read – pretended not to hear him and told him the total that Keith slapped on the rough amount of cash required. Then Keith stood to the side, almost leaning on the glass counter of baked goods and he might’ve dozed off a bit.

  The next thing he knew, there was a tap on his shoulders and the barista’s blue eyes were really damn close. Keith leapt into the air, knocking himself against the glass and shaking the cookie jars on the top.

  “Oh, crap, sorry!” Lance apologised. “You okay, dude? You look like you need a long nap.”

  “I do need a long nap,” Keith said, inching away in hope that Lance wouldn’t be able to smell vomit on him. (He’d changed into fresh clothes that he always kept on stand-by at the centre but there hadn’t yet been an opportunity to shower, much to his disgust.) “Thanks.”

  Then he snatched the cup from him and started to beeline out of the shop. Until he saw the name on the cup.

  ‘KIETH’

  He frowned and said over his shoulder, “You spelled my name wrong.”

  And okay yeah, that might’ve sounded a bit rude when Keith woke up from a fifteen-hour sleep and realised the barista was cute. But that was okay. Keith wasn’t ever going back to Oriande anyway, right? He didn’t even drink coffee that much and he’d certainly never bought anything from Oriande. He could go the rest of his life never setting foot inside the shop again and take another path to the bus stop on Fridays.

  But no. That would’ve been way too simple and Keith? He liked to torture himself.

  The next week, he let guilt prod at him like the buzz of a fly that wouldn’t leave his room.

  _God, you were so rude._

_At least apologise to him._

_You animal._

_Scum of society._

_Lance totally hates you now._

_Beg for his forgiveness._

  _Give him a bl-_

  Yeah, no. Keith could no longer ignore the jabs of his conscience at really inconvenient times like during one of Professor Thace’s pop quizzes and he started to label diagrams with things like ‘coffee’ and ‘rude’.

  Thus, Keith found himself outside Oriande the next Friday, peering in to see if Lance was working there again. He was, and he was talking to a big guy wearing a pale-yellow apron. There were only a handful of customers there, most engrossed in their laptops or caught in quiet conversations so if things did go really badly, Keith wouldn’t have to be that embarrassed.

  He took a deep breath and went in, opening the door much more gently this time. (He also didn’t smell of vomit this time.)

  Lance’s smile was wide and bright when he turned around and started to say, “Hey, welco- Oh.” The smile slowly slipped off his face and he narrowed his eyes. “ _Keith_.”

  The guy behind Lance clearly recognised the name, meaning Lance definitely told him. Brilliant.

  Keith strolled up to the counter in what he hoped was a friendly matter. “Lance.”

  Silence.

  The apron guy cleared his throat awkwardly. “I, um. I just remembered that I put the oven in the cupcakes. I should- Yeah, I should check on them.”

  Then he practically dove behind the door.

  “So, last week,” Keith began, voice cracking. “I’m really sorry I was rude to you.”

  “It’s fine,” Lance replied curtly. “Some people are just rude.”

  “I’m not usually like that,” Keith said, defensive.

  “Dude, it’s okay,” Lance said again, but a little less cold this time. “At least you’re apologising. Now, can I take your order?”

  “Um.” Keith looked up at the menu on the wall and said the first thing he saw. “I’ll have a small Arusian grind?” Whatever the hell that was.

  “Anything else?”

  Keith looked at the strawberry topped muffin the glass counter. Maybe Lance would be more inclined to forgive him if he bought more than just a coffee. He pointed at the muffin. “That one good?”

  Lance looked personally insulted. “All of those are made by Hunk back there, which means they’re the best things ever. But get the blueberry ones. They’re a favourite.”

  Keith couldn’t help the smile that tugged on the corner of his lips. “You mean _your_ favourite?”

  The tips of Lance’s ears actually turned red even as he bristled without denial.

  “Okay, I’ll take a blueberry.”

  After Keith paid, Lance got onto making the coffee while humming a song and dancing along a little bit, which was really quite endearing. Under the warm lights, Lance’s brown skin and freckles seemed to pop, making his eyes bluer than they probably were. Keith hoped he didn’t realise he was checking him out.

  When Lance finished, he smiled as he slid the cup and the muffin bag towards Keith. But it wasn’t a good smile. This was a smile Shiro made before he pushed Keith into the pool and the smile Pidge made before she ate the last slice of Keith’s pizza.

  Suffice to say, Keith was suddenly very cautious. His eyes slowly slid down to the coffee and muffin.

  ‘KEETH’

  Keith let out a short laugh in disbelief. “You spelled my name wrong.”

  Lance looked at the cup innocently. “Oh, did I?” He shrugged. “Sorry. Maybe I’ll spell it right next time.”

  And what was Keith supposed to do? Tell Lance that he didn’t really have any plans for ‘next time’ and wipe that smile off his face? _Psshhh._ Yeah, right.

  Keith was a sucker for cute boys with freckles and sass.

  And that was how Keith found himself stopping by Oriande Cafe every Friday afternoon at exactly quarter past four. Really, he had every plan to stop going as soon as Lance spelled his name right. Even though both the coffee and muffin were delicious beyond reason, it did put a dent in his weekly income, which wasn’t much to begin with. But Lance seemed to always spell his name purposefully wrong with, ‘Oops. Maybe next week?’ and soon the prospect of not having an excuse to see Lance was starting to seem like the end of a beautiful dream.

  Keith had started to look forward to Friday afternoons so much that he didn’t even mind enduring days of crying children anymore. Having the chance to linger a little while after his order to chat with both Lance and Hunk had become highlights of Keith’s weeks.

  It was always a riot to hear about their duo shenanigans as well as their solo shenanigans like the time Lance tried to hit on his boss Allura but it turned out to be Lotor, her boyfriend and the time Hunk accidently broke a piece of equipment in the lab that he fixed with duct tape and somehow the machine was still running after three years better than it ever did before.

  But to Keith’s dismay, Lance seemed to be running out of ways to misspell his very simple name. He’d gone through: Keet, Keyth, Kith, Keef and even Caeth, which Keith had raised a mighty eyebrow at. The last one sounded a bit desperate.

  The eighth Friday that Keith passed Oriande on the way home, Keith was a bit scared Lance might finally run out of ways to misspell his name and give him a reason to stop coming by.

  As usual, the shop was mostly empty at this time of the day with a couple of regulars Keith had come to recognise. Lance and Hunk were behind the counter, watching something on a phone, biting their lips on the edge of completely bursting into laughter. When the bell chimed as Keith went in, they looked up.

  “Keith!” Lance said. “Come here!”

  Lance’s excitement warmed Keith’s heart and the tip of his ears. Lance shoved the phone in his face and Keith watched with crossed eyes. It was a vine. Was it a vine? Keith wasn’t up to date on internet things but Lance was clearly looking for some reaction so Keith chuckled a bit even though he didn’t get it.

  “How were the kids today?” Hunk asked. “No vomit this time?”

  “Not today, thank god. One did try to bite my hair though.”

  Lance hummed thoughtfully, shoving his phone into his pocket. “I understand why. The mullet is an eyesore.”

  Keith rolled his eyes, having heard this exact same sentence at least ten times. “It’s not a mullet.”

  “Sure, mullet.”

  Despite himself, Keith smiled and shook his head. From anyone else, it would’ve been totally insulting. From Lance, it was adorable even at Keith’s own expense. And that smirk? It absolutely wrecked Keith’s heart and Lance didn’t even know.

  “You have to try the sesame seed cookie,” Hunk said, already sliding a paper bag towards him. “On the house. Allura and Coran want to broaden our baked goods section and my nan pulled out this secret family recipe. You’re going to die, Keith.”

  “Uh.”

  Lance nodded seriously. “Not gonna lie. It is to die for.”

  Keith shrugged. “Guess I’ll die then.”

  Lance’s face lit up. “Hey, Keith is starting to become meme-ducated!”

  That outburst drew some attention but if there was one thing Keith had found out about Lance, it’s that he gave no shits about what anyone thought, which Keith personally admired because he’d always wanted the nerve to do things without caring about judgement. Even now, Keith burned under the weight of additional eyes and also because Lance was looking at him like _that_.

  Hunk nudged Lance in the side with a look passed between them. “You gonna take his order, Lance?”

  “Right. Yes. What are you having today, mullet?”

  Keith scanned the menu. “Surprise me.”

  Hunk sniggered and Keith swore he heard him mutter under his breath, “Oh, you’re going to be surprised all right.”

  Lance elbowed him sharply.

  Something was definitely going on.

  Lance started trying to make his coffee with Hunk buzzing around him, whispering harshly as Lance tried to shove him away with equally aggressive whispers.

  “Goddammit, Lance. You are going to do it!”

  “No, Hunk! I don’t even know if-”

  Hunk started squawking like a chicken. Lance covered his friend’s face with his hand and pushed him. Well, tried to push him. Hunk was a pretty strong guy.

  He stuck a marker in Lance’s hand with a rather scary look. Lance glared back then ripped the cap off before he scribbled something on the cup. He scribbled a lot of somethings on the cup actually, far too long to be anything like Keith’s name. But then again, this was Lance so there was no telling. Once, they both looked up at him and gave nervous smiles before going back to whispering even more quietly so that Keith couldn’t eavesdrop.

  All the while, Keith just watched the two of them in part confusion and part suspicion, which was the regular mix when it came to these two.

  Finally, Lance put the lid on with extra care, exhaling a long, long breath. He looked pretty flushed for someone who only made one coffee, red dusting his cheeks and ears. Hunk clasped a hand on Lance’s shoulder as if in encouragement...to give Keith his coffee?

  Maybe... Maybe Lance was giving more than coffee?

  Keith’s heart made a _ba-bump_.

  Not meeting his eyes, Lance slid the cup over with the blank side facing Keith. And because Keith was nervous with hope and he was a slightly overdramatic gay, he slowly, slowly, slowly turned the cup around.

  ‘GO ON A DATE WITH ME?’

  Of course. Of course. The seeming suave and flirtatious guy would actually be scared to ask someone out for real. Somehow that made it all the more endearing and Keith’s heart did a thing that would look like a back flip off the Empire State Building.

  He couldn’t hold back the grin. “That’s not even close to my name.”

  Lance rubbed the back of his neck with a pout. “Maybe you can teach me how to spell it on that date.”

  Keith stuck out his hand. “It’s a deal.”

  Lance looked at it and smiled before he clasped it tightly. “It’s a date.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. Kudos and comments are always very much appreciated.  
>   
> Come scream at me on tumblr at [hano-does-fandoms](https://hano-does-fandoms.tumblr.com). Please.


	2. Day 2 - Galtean

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance lives in the Altean colony beyond the Abyss. Keith is a Galran soldier part of Lotor’s team. There are things Keith hasn’t told Lance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Angst Warning, guys. Like, seriously.

  On the nights that sleep could not calm the chaos of his mind, Keith wondered about what might’ve happened had things gone right, had he done something earlier.

  He thought about landing on the colony beyond the Abyss that day with Lotor’s hand-picked crew. The sense of pride that he usually felt upon landing – pride that Lotor trusted him, a half-breed, enough with something so life-changing that he didn’t even trust his other generals with – was replaced by a thing that twisted his guts. He remembered telling himself some half-assed lies about how whatever Lotor was doing was necessary for the Galra Empire, how this work was so important for the future of the entire universe.

  At some point, it might’ve been true but decades later Lotor’s plans were not enough to get anyone anywhere. It wasn’t working. Yet it kept going and going and going and the ‘second colony’ was getting crowded. Their empty eyes haunted Keith’s dreams and his waking moments and the twist in his guts spiked when he looked at Lance, bright and beautiful Lance with heart-stopping smiles and pretty blue marks that glowed with Keith’s every touch, every kiss.

  Deep down, Keith knew that one day Lance, the love of his life and the sun in his sky, could pass the tests. Lance never understood why Keith didn’t want him to pass.

  Keith’s every answer was, “I would get to see you less often on the second colony,” and it made bile rise in his throat and he would hold Lance tighter, would protect him from the horrifying truth.

  Except Keith was a part of that truth. Keith was as bad as Lotor.

  Keith _couldn’t_ protect Lance.

  Come the next visit, Lance passed. He’s smiled so brightly as he bounded up the ramp onto the ship and Keith couldn’t look at him or his family bidding him safe travels. For one moment, Veronica’s eyes caught his. Whatever she saw on his face made her smile slip by a fraction and shame had never burned so hotly in his heart.

  Keith could’ve told Lance to stay and it would’ve subjected Lance to the prince’s watchful eyes more than ever. Maybe that would’ve been better. Maybe the prince would’ve let him stay. Or maybe Lotor would’ve gotten rid of Keith for suspected treason and Lance would’ve ended up with a very different fate.

  Maybe maybe maybe.

  So many maybes.

  The one true certainty was that Keith let Lance board, he kissed his cheeks and he smiled crookedly as everything started to unravel – a pebble rolled off a mountain.

  Lotor led the Alteans on a tour of their new _home_ , a twisted perversion of what it once meant to these people who had already suffered and lost so much; Lance’s people. Looking back, Keith could’ve done a thousand things to stop what was going to happen.

  He could have taken down the other soldiers.

  He could have sunk a dozen bullets in the back of the prince’s head.

  He could have sought help from the Blade of Marmora or a rebel squad a long time ago.

  So many could haves and none of it changed that all Keith did was take Lance’s hand for the last time and pulled him behind a door. The pebble hit another loose.

  “Stars, Keith,” Lance said with a wide grin as soon as Keith took his hand off his mouth, both pressed a wall. “At least try to keep it in your pants. We just got here.”

  And yet, Lance kissed him, short and sweet. The last smile and the last kiss.

  “We’re not staying here,” Keith told him.

  Lance let out a gasp of surprise as Keith towed him along. Keith distinctly remembered the shuffle of their boots in the silent hallways of the facility that might as well have been a graveyard of broken souls. He remembered the mistake he made in dragging Lance to corridor with one wall made of glass that overlooked the tombstones.

  By the time Keith realised it, the confused complaints were falling away from Lance’s lips, replaced by a stunned silence so uncharacteristic of the boy he loved. Nothing Keith did could’ve undone the mistake.

  The pebbles kept rolling, rolling, rolling, shaking the ground.

  “Wha... Are they...” Lance trailed quietly.

  Keith sighed. “They’re alive.” He refused to lie to Lance and maybe that was the most important promise he’d ever made to himself, perhaps the truest action to show that Keith did love Lance with all his heart no matter the horrible things he’d helped Lotor do.

  Lance turned a deadly glare on him. “What the quizack is going on, Keith?”

  “We need to go before they realise we’re missing. I promise I’ll explain everything.”

  “ _Now_ , Keith. Is that what was going to happen to me? To the others?”

  Lance’s voice had started to draw attention and Keith heard the footsteps coming. What he did next, he should regret but he couldn’t bring himself to. He knocked Lance out with a properly sock on the jaw and carried him across the building and onto a small ship.

  They were gone before anyone realised.

  The avalanche had truly begun.

  When Lance came to, they’d just cleared the Quantum Abyss on a route Keith had memorised; a route to his heart.

  Lance slapped away Keith’s attempts to help him up. “Tell me the truth. Now.”

  So Keith told the ugly truth, on that he was a part of. Lance’s look of utter horror and disgust was forever engraved in Keith’s mind, the way Lance backed away from him, the way he keeled over, ready to throw up, whole body shaking in rage and Keith could do nothing to take away the hurt he’d caused.

  Lance had yelled and cried and punched Keith, demanding to go back for his family but – another regret on Keith’s part – he refused because it wasn’t safe for Lance to go back. Later Keith would try to save Lance’s family who had accepted him as their own, only to find the colony empty, the facility abandoned.

  All the way to a remote trading port, Lance sat on the floor, back against a wall and knees in his arms. But Keith’s days of cradling him were over and even a glance was met with a burning glare. Rightly so.

  The rocks were falling, falling, falling all around Keith, crushing his chest. In saving the person he loved, he’d lost him.

  Once landed, Lance stood straight as a rod with face set in determination. He grew tall enough to match Keith’s height and the marks beneath his eyes, now a dull blue, faded into his freckled brown skin. His ghostly-empty eyes levelled an indifferent gaze at Keith.

  He whispered lowly, “Don’t try to find me. Goodbye, Keith.”

  Watching Lance walk away was Keith’s greatest regret in all of this. The dust settled around Keith, chin-deep in rubble of what once was a magnificent, beautiful thing.

  In hindsight, maybe Keith deserved it all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I loved writing this even though this is so sad and not usually my style. I promise tooth-rotting fluff for the next part. ;)
> 
> You can scream at me on tumblr at [hano-does-fandoms](https://hano-does-fandoms.tumblr.com)


	3. Day 3 - Mermaid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A tender moment between a cursed merman and his keeper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short chapter this time so I apologise.

  Lance resides in the special room with a tank built into the floor in the belly of the steamer. The tank is pretty big but for a merman with tail as long as Keith is tall, it’s still cramped. Clearly no one was expecting mermaid tails to be this long when they built the tank.

  “But why can’t I follow you from the sea?” Lance whines with a pout, resting his chin atop his arms folded over the side of the tank. “I won’t swim off.”

  Sitting beside the tank with one arm on the raised ledge of the tank, Keith chuckles and run a finger along the delicate fin of Lance’s ears, which draws out a contented sigh. “I know you won’t. But you’ll get tired of swimming thousands of miles before we reach the King’s palace. What if you get eaten by sharks?”

  Lance looks utterly appalled at this. “Sharks are my friends! They wouldn’t eat me.” Then he adds thoughtfully, “Octopi though.”

  Keith smiles and continues, “And if you swim outside, how will I get to see you?” He cups Lance’s jaw, gently bringing their foreheads together. “I’ll miss you so much.”

  Lance lets out a shaky breath and holds Keith’s hands in place, eyes slowly closing as he leans in closer so their lips brush, igniting a fire within them both. Keith presses forward to capture Lance’s lips firmly, to satiate the desire that burns in both their hearts but Lance pulls away, though not completely. His eyelids are shut tight and his hands tremble with restraint, webbed fingers wrapping tight around Keith’s wrist as he leans into the touch.

  “You have to stop coming here,” Lance murmurs brokenly. “The curse is getting worse.”

  Keith brushes a thumb across his cheekbones, coaxing Lance’s hand away from his wrist to litter kisses across his knuckles, skin starting to dry from staying above water too long. “It’s okay, Lance.”

  “Keith, I’ll drown you. I fall in love with you a little more every time you visit me and it’s getting harder to resist pulling you under. I don’t want to lose you.” A drop of tear rolls down his cheek, shining like a pearl under the pale gaslights around the room.

  “Hey,” Keith whispers. “Look at me.”

  Lance does, deep blue eyes glistening. Keith places a kiss on his lips and he feels the Lance’s whimper more than he hears it, feels the longing in the way he chases Keith’s lips. “You told me that the ocean is salty from the tears of mermaids who lost their loves. But you won’t lose me. Do you know why?”

  “Why?”

  “I’ll fight the ocean.”

  That brings a bubble of laughter out of Lance. “The ocean is not scared of your skinny butt, Keith.”

  “Then it’d better be scared of my love for you and it’d better quake in fear of what I might do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was actually a short part of something I've been planning in my head for a little while now. It's slightly different to what it's meant to be in the actual full story but I changed it here because I can only handle so much angst in the span of 48 hours.
> 
> Next prompt is Hogwarts and I'm still thinking about what I can write. (A little scared about getting things wrong because I'm a dumbass and I haven't read the whole series.) If anyone has a Hogwarts AU request, hit me up. :)
> 
> As usual, comments are always very much appreciated.  
> You can stalk me on tumblr at [hano-does-fandoms](https://hano-does-fandoms.tumblr.com)


	4. Day 4 - Hogwarts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prefect Lance catches Keith sneaking out past curfew with his broom.

  The hallway is empty, blanketed in hazy moonlight pouring from the windows. So far Keith has managed to avoid the prefects _and_ Haggar’s cat roaming the castle, on the hunt for students out of bed. Students like Keith who is gripping the handle of his broom tight in his gloved hands as he darted towards the door, avoiding falling prey to-

  “You’re breaking curfew.”

  -hall monitors.

  Keith sighs and turns, cocking an eyebrow at one Lance McClain who has a light shining on the tip of his wand, smirking at his latest catch (aka. Keith) as he leans against the wall on one shoulder. He eyes Keith’s broom and robe hastily thrown on over his pyjamas. “Going somewhere?”

  “To the pitch, but I don’t expect you to know what for since you haven’t shown up for a single practice this week.”

  For a moment, Lance holds Keith’s stare before warmth seeps into his gaze and Keith feels it blossom in his chest, spreading all the way to the tip of his fingers. For all the blatant jabbing and staring they both do, Keith still cannot bring himself to take that final leap forward, always settling for admiring from afar. Or up close. He does a lot of that too with no attempt to hide it anymore.

  Lance closes his eyes in defeat, eye bags made darker by shadows cast from the light of his wand. “Sendak has been up my ass all week and now he’s got me on hall duty the night before the Quidditch Cup.”

  “And last night.”

  He opens an eye. “You noticed.”

  Keith scoffs. “You fell on my bed trying to put your pants on. Of course I noticed.”

  “Last game of my Hogwarts quidditch career and I’m going to show up brain dead. Brilliant.”

  “You showed up to your O.W.L.S brain dead and you aced it. You’ll be fine.”

  Lance tips his head against the wall with a _thunk_. “I’m so tired.”

  “Ditch. Screw the patrol.” It wouldn’t be first time Lance has broken rules. Keith still distinctly remembers the night he became friends with Lance. Keith was coming back from one of his midnight rides on a cloudy night and ran into Lance being chased by Kova, the demon cat, when they smacked into each other. Then Lance was hauling himself _and_ Keith onto Keith’s broom and pushing them both out of a window. Needless to say, they plummeted to the ground and had Keith not come to his senses quick enough, Morvok the caretaker would’ve been cleaning a couple of second-years off the castle grounds.

  “I can’t ditch the patrol, Keith. We have the most important game of our school life tomorrow and I will not be benched. You need to go back to the dorm too. I’m not risking either of us.”

  He would normally sound very firm, very determined to shove Keith back to bed. Now he just sounds exhausted, the light from his wand flickering off. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Keith shuffles towards him and settles a hand around his wrist. Lance’s eyes follow it warily.

  “Come on,” Keith says. He knows he’s using that voice, the one that Lance claims could make Zarkon kneel before him. He knows it’s not fair but they both need a breather against all the odds stacked against them with Lance’s perpetual exhaustion and Keith’s anxiety of having pro-league scouts watching tomorrow’s game. Forgive him for trying to provide a much-needed break.

  Lance relents, letting himself be tugged along until they’re in the middle of the pitch. “If we’re expelled,” he says, “it’s totally your fault.”

  Keith rolls his eyes, mounting his broom. “They’re not going to expel us for flying.”

  “Past curfew. I don’t even have a broom.”

  Keith pats the space behind him and Lance looks at it like he’s remembering that night when they shot into the sky in sheer terror and adrenaline before pausing in the air, looking at one another and then collapsing onto each other with tears of laughter, almost falling off the broom. Though they’ve definitely flown side-by-side since then, they haven’t flown together on the same broom.

  As Lance swings his leg over the broom, holding Keith’s shoulders, he mutters, “Anyone asks, you kidnapped me.”

  “Sure. But if you fall off I’m saying you fainted.”

  Then he takes off without warning, making Lance yelp and grip his shoulders. Keith flies in silence, wind whipping through his hair. As they ascend higher and higher, diving through the light cloud cover, Lance’s arms come to wind around his torso tightly, hands bunching in Keith’s flimsy nightshirt just over his pounding heart. His back where it curves into Lance’s body is warm and comfortable, and he leans in just a little bit – enough to bring Lance’s mouth close to his nape.

   “Keith?” Lance says. “We’re really high now.”

  “I know.”

  Cold air nips at his skin and it’s becoming harder to keep the broom steady but Keith has flown through a hurricane before. Besides, Lance’s little gasp in his ear is worth it when they finally pierce above the clouds, revealing a magnificent canvas of dark blue that stretches over them, speckled with a million stars that glimmer around a silver moon.

  “ _Whoa_ ,” Lance breathes in awe. He reaches out like he might be able to dip his long, graceful fingers into the silky ocean of stars. “Do you do this all the time?”

  “On the nights before games, yeah. It clears my head.”

  “It’s so beautiful.”

  Keith hums, daring a peek over his shoulder. Lance’s hair is swept back by the wind, revealing that adorable widow’s peak at the crown of his forehead that Keith has always wanted to press a kiss to. His mouth hangs slightly ajar. More than once Keith has craved to press his mouth against Lance’s, to breathe him in, sinking his fingers in his robes, pressing their bodies together like two pieces of a puzzle.

  Blue eyes meet his slowly and the gaze lingers, intense and burning. Keith has to look away before he does something he shouldn’t.

  “Keith,” Lance whispers, breath softly caressing his neck. “Do you think we’ll win tomorrow?”

  “Definitely. We have the best chaser Hogwarts has ever seen.”

  Lance presses his face into the back of Keith’s shoulder, laughter vibrating through his entire body from that single point. “And the best seeker. We’ll pummel Slytherin into the dirt, won’t we, Keith?”

  “Hell yeah, we will. They won’t know what hit them.”

  Lance still shakes with laughter, arms tightening around Keith’s middle so abruptly that he almost gives in to the wind. Gingerly, he places a hand on the fist over his heart, afraid he’s completely crossing the line between platonic and romantic that’s been blurring over the years, smudged by one too many lingering hugs and smiles, washed away by names spoken differently, softly.

  “Lance?” Keith says when his ‘best friend’ and co-captain has been quiet and still for a long while, draped over Keith’s back heavily. “You asleep?”

  Lance grumbles, “I probably could sleep up here, hey? Sendak won’t find me.” The last of his words are stretched thin by a yawn. “Even if he does, screw him, right?”

  Keith chuckles. “Are you sure you want to?”

  Even half-asleep, Lance groans at Keith’s bad taste in jokes.

  “Come on, Lance. Let’s get you into bed.”

  Lance doesn’t argue. Keith is sure he falls asleep some time on the way down when his arm loosens a little around his waist. Keith holds them firm with one hand as he flies so Lance doesn’t fall off. And it turns out that Lance isn’t asleep. He takes Keith’s hand and weaves their fingers. Keith nearly crashes into a turret. Their hands stay tangled the rest of the way down.

  When they land, Lance retracts his hand and Keith misses it immediately but makes no moves to take it and hold it to heart. There’s a silent agreement to not speak of it, not yet, as they shuffle through the hallways, shoulders touching, both closer than they need to be.

  One of these days, the blurring line will finally disappear with that one touch, that one word. Keith longs for that day to come.

  They sneak back into the room on tip-toes to not wake the other three. Lance dives under his covers without changing and Keith shucks his robe off before getting into his own bed.

  From across the five-foot gap between their beds, Lance smiles. “Goodnight, Keith.”

  All it takes is one leap of faith, and Keith would make that leap. Soon.

  For now, he whispers, “Night, Lance.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tomorrow's prompt (roommates) will be a continuation of this. :)


	5. Day 5 - Roommates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance and Keith celebrate their Quidditch win in their own way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This continues from the previous part but it's not really necessary to read that first.

  “I can’t believe you actually pulled it off,” Griffin is saying from across the room, echoing Lance’s words for the umpteenth time since Gryffindor team came out the champions of the Quidditch cup earlier that day.

  On Keith’s bed, Lance’s perplexed laughter is muffled in his hands. “Me neither! I thought the bludger was going to fly off and hit Keith!”

  Keith smiles when he thinks of the way Lance had hooted and punched the air with James’s stick, utterly confused on why Lance, a chaser, had a beater’s stick and why Narti, the Slytherin seeker, was suddenly on the ground while the quaffle has gone through a hoop despite Gryffindor’s other chasers being on the other side of the pitch. It turned out that Lance had snatched the stick from Griffin, beat the bludger off its course straight into the quaffle passing between two Slytherin chasers, which sent that quaffle through a hoop while the bludger changed course for the two seekers racing after the golden snitch, taking out Narti and gave Keith the opening to lunge for the snitch.

  Keith just wishes he could’ve seen all of that, Lance being amazing as usual (with a bit of sheer dumb luck).

  Griffin finishes up combing his hair. “You guys coming to the Three Broomsticks?”

  “’Course we are,” Lance answers, raising his head off the bed. “What kind of celebration would it be if today’s real hero doesn’t come?” He shoots a mock sneer at Keith and adds with a wave of his hand, “And the team captain, I suppose.”

  “All right. See you there.” Then Griffin is gone, closing the door after him, leaving just Lance and Keith in the room.

  Keith finally takes the chance to really revel in the sight of Lance lounging on his bed, shirt untucked from his pants, tie loose over his cardigan and hands beneath a mop of windswept hair, beaming brightly. It’s not that Lance doesn’t invade Keith’s bed very often – because he does it more times than anyone can count. It’s more of the fact that Keith has been pining for years that he can’t make his heart still.

  He’d wanted to kiss Lance after the game today, to finally make that leap and seal the deal on exactly what they wanted to be, but as the true champion of the game who delivered that insanely brilliant move, he was crowded within an instant with no chance of Keith getting close enough to even hold his hand into the air. He’d had to settle for cheering from afar, again, as Lance yelled at him, “WE DID IT! WE DID IT, KEITH!”

  Now, Lance is so close all Keith has to do is move his hands a few inches and there he is, long body stretched over the bed, arms folded under his head, smiling at Keith. How many times has Keith looked over in the middle of the night and wished he could reach out for Lance’s hand or brush his hair from his face or curl up next to him on cold winter nights? Far too many to remember, spanning over years and years of sharing the room.

  “Maybe I should’ve tried out for beater,” Lance says.

  “Nah,” Keith replies, chucking his cardigan off onto the chest at the foot of the bed. (He swears blue eyes follow the movements closely.) Then, he plucks up the scraps of his courage and sits down next to Lance, one leg hanging off. “You have too good an aim to waste it on hitting bewitched balls.”

  “Yeah, but you should’ve seen me, Keith! It was probably the best hit in history! The crowd went crazy. _Crazy._ ”

  Keith chuckles. “I know. Everyone’s been all over you since then.”

  “Aww, don’t be jealous. I can’t help it if people want a piece of this.” He adds a wiggle of his eyebrows and gestures at the length of his toned body that Keith has sneaked so many shameless glances at when he changes.

  Keith releases another nervous chuckle, hands wringing tight around his ankle as he pointedly looks at the stack of textbooks on his desk. He mumbles, “Yeah.”

  Lance goes quiet, eyes boring into the side of Keith’s head. _Merlin’s beard._ This is a lot scarier than Hunk’s advice, which was: ‘Just go for it, Keith! Dive for it like it’s the snitch.’ Even if Lance sometimes flies around him, taunts him then slips out of his grasp exactly like the snitch might, Lance is a completely different thing when he wants to be caught, when he gives Keith his full attention, expecting. It’s so much to handle, so hard to breathe.

  He turns on his side and curls in so that Keith is neatly situated within the curve of him as Lance looks up, the soft evening sunlight caught in the blue of his eyes and cast on where one of his hands has covered Keith’s, cool against his hot skin.

  “Lance, what are we?” Keith asks with an awkward huff of air that could pass as a laugh.

  “Roommates?”

  He looks around the room, empty except for the two of them. “Just that?”

  “Friends?”

  Keith raises an eyebrow.

  “Best friends?” Now there’s a teasing lilt in his voice, the corner of his mouth tugging upwards.

  Keith looks at their hands. “Best friends?”

  “Are we not?”

  Keith wraps both of his hands around Lance’s, bringing it to his chest and laying it above his heart. Lance’s eyes widen at the thunderous beats he finds there. “Best friends don’t feel what I feel for you.”

  For once, Lance is quiet like he’s at a loss for words, just staring at where their hands conjoin as if he’s trying to find something to say. When he does manage something, it’s hoarse and cracked, his eyes glued to Keith’s lips. “Oh, yeah? What if I tell you I feel the same too? What are you gonna do about it then?”

  “ _This._ ”

  Keith dives and captures Lance’s lips with his own, fierce and firm, crawling forward so their bodies line up, gently pressing Lance into the mattress as he leaves hungry kisses on his mouth, the freckles on his cheeks, along the sharp edge of his jaw and down the length of his neck. Lance clutches at Keith’s tie, a hand tangled in the hair on his neck, sighing quietly as Keith comes back to his lips, breathing in the intoxicating smell of the ocean laced with pine trees, something he’s only ever experienced in potions classes.

  “ _God,_ Keith,” Lance murmurs, pulling him down again. “Finally-”

  The door opens.

  Keith leaps away from Lance, falling gracelessly off the bed onto his ass.

  Griffin is standing in the doorway, looking back and forth between Lance – on the bed, now with his face obscured by a pillow – and Keith on the floor in confusion. “I...forgot my wand.”

  He grabs it from his nightstand and strolls out again with a final, “Garret and Holt told me to tell you to hurry up by the way.”

  The door closes.

  Keith slowly lets out his breath, eyeing the door in anticipation that it might open up.

  “Do you think he realised?” Lance asks, peeking at the door over the pillow.

  “Hard to say. He can be pretty dumb about these things. Do you...not want him to know?”

  Lance scoffs. “Keith. Babe. I plan to walk into Three Broomsticks holding your hands and announcing my second win for the day. Now get up here and kiss me again.”

~

  Outside, James rolls his eyes at his two idiot roommates who actually thought that people didn’t know they’ve been together for years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading.   
> You can find me on tumblr at [hano-does-fandoms](https://hano-does-fandoms.tumblr.com) if you want to scream about me about Klance or Voltron in general.


	6. Day 6 - Supernatural

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and Lance's third meeting while on a mission to hunt a runaway vampire goes almost as passionately as their previous one and exactly as planned.
> 
> For one of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I know. I'm a terrible human being who's using something I'd already posted before for this. In my defence, this hasn't been posted on Tumblr yet so there's that (though that one will be more mild than this). 
> 
> Anywho, I'm sorry. I just needed a break today to work on my zine piece and also drafting the next chapter of Transcendent. I promise original content for tomorrow.

  Lance knew that as a vampire hunter, he wasn’t meant to fuck one but this one was good. Or at least not terrible like those from the Galra clan. This one was a Blade of Marmora, which more or less meant they wanted the same thing Voltron, an archaic guild of vampire hunters, did; to stop human deaths at the hands of Galra clan vampires. (Lance was pretty sure Voltron was some acronym for a long Latin name but he didn’t have time to remember all of that.)

  The only difference between Voltron and Blade of Marmora was that Voltron would happily slay any and all Galra on sight while the Blades were more about capture and convert – kind of like proselytizers for vampires, minus the holiness. While Voltron and BoM were independent and mutually exclusive organisations, they technically weren’t enemies so this guy wasn’t exactly off Lance’s menu.

  (And God knows _Lance_ wasn’t off his menu either.)

  From the other side of the van, Pidge was giving him a look. “Try not to get too excited, Lance. He might not even be there this time.”

  Lance folded his arms across his chest and stuck out his tongue. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “I don’t know, Pidge,” Hunk said. “I mean Lotor’s a half-breed. If anyone from the Blades has a chance of catching him it’s Keith.”

  Lotor, heir of the Galra clan, who had gone into hiding after his father set a price on his head for...something. No one was actually sure what the hell he’d done for Zarkon to rain fires of rage upon his own son. He was one of the six vampire-human half-breeds in existence, making him stronger and more powerful than anyone had any right to be.

  Last anyone heard, two of the other half-breeds in Lotor’s league had gone rogue and one wound up with a stake through the heart (no one knows what the hell happened to her either). Eventually it would fall on Voltron or the BoM to take care of the rogues but everyone’s number one priority was Lotor.

  “Lance,” Shiro started, “I don’t know what the Blades are planning to do with Lotor but we need our hands on him first, got it? He could be our advantage in taking down the Galra clan. In the case that Keith is also there, I need you to focus on your part of the mission. Remember. Keith is as dangerous as Lotor. Please don’t... ‘tango’ with him again.”

  Lance grinned. “But what if I absolutely must?”

  Allura sighed in exasperation. “Lance. You really don’t.”

  He huffed. “I make no promises.”

  “Alright, everyone,” Coran called from the front of the van. “We’re arriving in a minute. Ready?”

  Lance did a final check on his costume for the night as a pirate captain with various weapons hidden on him, including pepper spray because that stuff worked on humans and vampires alike. Honestly, it was probably his most used weapon.

  Shiro was a zombie, Pidge was Dr Frankenstein – Lance had suggested that she went as a dwarf and he almost died – with Hunk as Frankenstein’s monster and Allura as a witch, opting for a black dress that hugged her body and shimmered like scales with every movement. There was no logical place for her to hide anything but somehow she could and would pull a sniper rifle on you anyway. Lance had yet to figure out how to put his phone in his pocket without having the outlines show.

  They arrived at the venue for the evening, a fancy hotel where the Halloween Gala was held at. According to Pidge and Coran’s intel, Lotor was likely to be doing business here tonight when his general vampire-ness and shadiness would be inconspicuous among everyone in costume.

  Allura would never have spent so much on expensive tickets to this party but a certain vampire who once fucked her over might turn up so it was personal vendetta. (See, everyone was a hypocrite. Lance screwed a half-breed and it was all, “Lance, you horny idiot,” but when Allura dated Lotor, it was all, “Maybe we can strike an agreement with the Galra clan.”) Either way, Lance was going to enjoy this whether Lotor turned up or not.

  The party was in a huge chamber decorated with jack-o-lanterns, burning skulls and glowing cobwebs. Skeleton waiters carried around trays of sparkling wine glasses with fake eyeballs in them. (Lance hoped they were fake.) At the front was a stage where the DJ blasted music. It was only eight and the chamber was already pretty packed with mummies, ghosts, devils and a bunch of other supernatural getup. Everyone reeked of money. Lance was just glad he didn’t half-ass his costume.

  “Everyone, you know your jobs,” Shiro said as they stood in the door. “Let’s roll.”

  Lance happily obliged as the group dispersed, drinking in the sight of all the luxury and beautiful people around him. Somehow amidst the hundreds of party goers around him, his eyes found the person he was meant to look for. His back was turned to Lance but he’d recognise that mullet anywhere.

  “Guys,” he said into the comm in his ear, “I have eyes on Keith and oh boy, he looks edib-”

  “Lance,” Hunk interrupted. “Keep your thoughts to yourself, please.”

  Shiro’s voice came. “Alright, Lance. Stay on target.”

  Then some people moved out of the way to reveal a woman talking to Keith. She wasn’t in costume, just a simple black tux but holy crap, she was a sight to behold. As in Gal-Gadot-Wonder-Woman-type-sight. Short raven-black hair, sharp eyes, taller than Keith and built like the love child of Scarlett Johansson and Jennifer Lawrence.

  Sometimes, being bisexual was hard.

  “Guys,” he said again. “We’re gonna have a problem. There’s someone with Keith and while I would gladly keep both of them busy, I don’t think I can handle that much attractiveness.”

  “I’m heading your way,” Allura said.

  Lance took a huge breath, plastered on a charming smile and rolled up to the duo. “Well, well, well. Look who’s here. And who’s this beautiful lady?”

  The beautiful and slightly intimidating lady levelled an unimpressed look at him and raised an eyebrow at Keith.

  Keith also looked unimpressed but there was a tiny smile on the corner of his lips that turned Lance’s insides into mush. “McClain. Why am I not surprised to see you here?”

  Lance winked. “Because I bring the party with me.” He turned to the woman and decided to just go for it. He took her hand and placed a kiss on the back of it. “Who might you be, my lady?”

  “Acxa. And you are?”

  _Holy_ \- Lance dropped her hand and almost leapt away, regretting everything in an instant. Acxa Ivanov, the other half-breed in the Blade of Marmora. Legend had it that she was once in Lotor’s league before ultimately betraying the Galra by attempting to murder Zarkon’s witch of a wife. Some said she succeeded because Haggar hadn’t been seen since. Whatever the case, this woman wasn’t just a normal vampire.

  Wow. Keith _and_ Acxa. The Blades meant business this time.

  “The name’s Lance McClain and it is an honour to meet you.”

  “And I,” someone said, stepping up to his side, “am Allura Brooks, daughter of Alfor.”

  Acxa seemed to recognise Alfor’s name and gave Allura a nod with a glint of respect and intrigue. “Lotor’s ex. I was hoping to meet the woman who held him on a leash.”

  From that point on it was Allura and Acxa shit-talking about Lotor which Lance quickly tuned out. His target was the Mulletman himself. Lance looked him up and down.

  “Seriously?” he said. “Out of all things you could’ve come as, you chose a vampire?”

  Keith shrugged, a feral smile showing his fangs, and he let the white of his eyes turn yellow and pupils violet. _Holy fuck._

“Would you rather I wore something else?”

  Lance considered the cape, the sleek black hair and the dark red vest that hugged his torso tightly. “You should lose the cape. And the vest, the shirt and the pants too.”

  A rumble of laughter rolled out of Keith’s throat, low and warm like honey. He put a hand on Lance’s shoulder. “Maybe I will later.”

  A thousand images of a darkened room, rumpled sheets and pale smooth skin relayed in Lance’s mind. Jesus, it’d been months and Lance still wasn’t over it. ‘It’ being meeting Keith for the second time at a bar by pure chance and lo and behold, he was suddenly taking off with him in a taxi and somehow they ended up at Keith’s apartment. But honestly it wasn’t as surprising as he made it out to be to the others and no one bought his bullshit anyway.

  Lance needed to get his crap together. He ran a finger down the seam of Keith’s vest, lingering on the buttons. “Any chance I can help you lose them?”

  “If I let you help, what do I get in exchange?”

  Holy lord. Lance was just glad Allura had taken Acxa off somewhere at this point because he could not handle the embarrassment of having someone witness him completely falling apart by Keith’s flirting.

  “Christ,” Pidge said in his ear. “You know what, Lance? I’m gonna turn your comm volume down so that we’re not completely traumatised.”

  Hunk added, “Damn, Keith’s got game by the way.”

  In front of Lance, Keith was smiling at the ear where the comm was. “Thanks, man.”

  “You’re welcome, dude,” Hunk replied.

  Of course Keith heard. He and his supernatural hearing.

  Lance tried to hide his flustering. “Alright, alright. Wanna go somewhere quieter? You might be able to hear perfectly but it’s loud for me.”

  “I know a place.”

  Then Keith was dragging him off through the ocean of bodies. He took him up a flight of spiral stairs, the top of which was a small veranda overlooking a garden bathed in multicoloured lights. They leaned against the railings, shoulders touching. Lance was acutely aware of that point of contact.

  “So are we always going to be like this?” he asked. “Sneaking off alone. Not that I’m complaining or anything.”

  Keith smirked. “Why? Are you worried you’ll screw up your mission tonight?”

  “Oh, trust me. If I’m lucky, the only thing I’ll be screwing tonight is a certain vampire with hairstyle as old as him.”

  Keith looked at Lance’s lips. “Funny you should say that considering your job is literally to kill my kind.”

  “Only the bad ones.”

  “You think I’m good?”

  Lance gave him a smile. “Well, if you’re not, I might just have to stake you through the heart. I heard it’s one hell of a way to make yourself unforgettable.”

  “Believe me when I say you’re already unforgettable. No one insults my hair like you and yet runs your fingers through it like it’s gold.”

  Lance blushed again. It wasn’t his fault Keith’s hair was soft and fluffy even if it looked ugly. Okay, maybe it wasn’t even really ugly on him either. “Yeah, well. I’ll have you know that Shiro doesn’t approve of my hobbies involving you.”

  “Really? What would those hobbies be?”

  Now he was just fishing and Lance absolutely refused to take the bait. “What about Kolivan? Does he know?”

  “Yeah. He smelled you all over me.”

  “Oh, Jesus. Seriously?”

  Another smirk. Damn, Keith really was out to kill Lance today, wasn’t he? “Yeah. He told me I shouldn’t play with food.”

  Lance had only met Kolivan, head of the Blades, once which was also the first time he met Keith. Allura wanted to see if they could come to some sort of mutual agreement about not murdering each other on sight. There were only meant to be two Blades meeting five hunters and of course Kolivan choose a half-breed as company, someone who could take out half of them with ease within a blink of an eye. Honestly, Lance was a bit too busy gaping at the beauty that was Keith Kogane to pay attention to Kolivan but it sounded about right that he would consider Lance as food.

  “I was asking what I’d get in exchange.”

  “What do you want?”

  Keith’s eyes darkened and slowly, slowly dragged down to his lips and then the column of his throat. He smoothed his tongue over his teeth. “I’m a bit hungry.”

  Well, that wasn’t blunt at all. Lance was suddenly really warm but he couldn’t say he didn’t like it. “As much as I’d love to satiate your hunger, Keith, I’d like to not be lightheaded when I nail you against a wall later.”

  Keith hummed vaguely and moved in closer like Lance had said nothing. “I’d like to see you try.”

  His hands found Lance’s hips and twisted him so that Lance was backed up against the railing, one of Keith’s legs between his thighs. Lance didn’t even bother to resist when Keith buried his face in the crook of his neck, cold nose trailing from his collarbone to his ear. It wasn’t like Shiro could give him shit; Lance’s task was to distract Keith and he was doing a fantastic job.

  So Lance wrapped his arms around Keith’s waist and leaned his head to one side to give better access when Keith started to press light kisses along the curve of his ear and the skin beneath, pecking down down down to the base of his neck, tugging his coat and tunic to reveal more skin.

  “I’m hungry in other ways,” Keith murmured hoarsely, hot breaths sending tingles down Lance’s spine, especially as Keith took skin between his lips and sucked.

  “Oh, yeah?” Huh. Lance could still speak. Interesting. “I can sate that kind of hunger.”

  “Big words.”

  “Too many words.”

  Keith’s confirmation that he got the hint was his tongue on the spot he’d been working at and pressing the leg between Lance’s thighs closer, making him arch into Keith with a groan. Lance gripped Keith’s vest as he grinded down, wanting more. Keith obliged with a hot, breathy sigh that fanned across Lance’s throat just before he captured his lips in a fervent kiss, untucking the shirt and sliding cold hands across Lance’s skin. 

  Keith kissed hungrily, brutally with quiet satisfied moans every time Lance tugged on his hair, like he’d been fantasizing about this a million times too since that night.

  “ _God_ ,” Lance breathed when their lips broke apart but foreheads still resting on each others’. “I missed this.”

  Keith’s thumbs had sunk below the waistline of Lance’s pants and gently stroked his hipbones, fingers gripping on his sides tightly like Lance might try to escape if he doesn’t. “Me too.”

  He pressed a kiss on the corner of Lance’s lips gently. Lance tried to catch them again but Keith’s hands were already gone and he was stepping out of his hold, hair dishevelled (Lance was proud of that) and a dazed gleam in his eyes.

  “Sorry, McClain,” he said, actually sounding a little sorry despite the smirk that made its way on his beautiful face. “My mission is done.”

  “What...”

  Lance followed his glance to the ground where an earpiece rested – the one that was in Lance’s ear, the one he failed to notice had been gone for a while because he was busy making out with Keith, a certifiable(ly hot) asshole.

  Keith saluted with two fingers. “See you around, Lance.”

  Dumbstruck, Lance watched Keith poof into a sleek, black bat with yellow eyes and fly off down to a car with its windows rolled down, Acxa in the drivers’ seat and a passenger Lance didn’t care about. He saw the unmistakeable long white hair of an unconscious man in the backseat as Keith flew inside.

  Then the car was gone and Lance was on that balcony, his coat half pulled off his shoulders, pants hanging low on his hips, tiny voices on the earpiece no doubt yelling at him to get his ass down there. A laugh bubbled out of him and he grinned.

  “Yeah,” he said to no one. “See you around, Keith.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tomorrow: Internet Friends. Feel free to hit me up with a request.


	7. Day 7 - Internet Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith came for aliens. He stayed for Lance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea how tinder works.

**[22:15] hackkker23** : guess who

 **[22:16] LM-2318-9-102** : hmm.... an alien?

 **[22:16] hackkker23** : WRONG. It’s me

 **[22:16] LM-2318-9-102** : ah yes, it’s not and alien it’s the hacker obsessed with aleins

 **[22:16] LM-2318-9-102** : *aliens

 **[22:17] LM-2318-9-102** : how are you this fine evening?

 **[22:17] hackkker23** : it could be better if u tell me the security codes :)

 **[22:17] LM-2318-9-102** : what kind of hacker asks for security codes??

 **[22:18] hackkker23** : ones friends with head of server security at area 51

 **[22:18] hackkker23** : seriously though

 **[22:18] hackkker23** : i’m picking up new information input from earlier today

 **[22:18] LM-2318-9-102** : here i was thinking you’re here for me :’(

 **[22:19] hackkker23** : u flatter urself. i know u guys r hiding something and i want in on alien action

 **[22:19] LM-2318-9-102** : so hack into the system then

 **[22:20] hackkker23** : ... u want to lose ur job?

 **[22:20] LM-2318-9-102** : aww you do care about me! *wipes tear*

 **[22:20] hackkker23** : so aliens. What’s happening?

 **[22:21] LM-2318-9-102** : guess my name right and i’ll tell you

 **[22:23] LM-2318-9-102** : uh...hello? you still there?

 **[22:24] hackkker23** : Lance McClain

 **[22:24] LM-2318-9-102** : ... how tf... O_O

 **[22:24] hackkker23** : hacked into the cams in ur office. You’re wearing a name tag

 **[22:24] LM-2318-9-102** : shit

 **[22:25] LM-2318-9-102** : tell me this is the first time you hacked into cameras

 **[22:25] hackkker23** : no...?

 **[22:26] LM-2318-9-102** : DUDE! EVER HEARD OF PRIVACY?

 **[22:26] hackkker23** : no, only piracy

 **[22:26] LM-2318-9-102** : i can report you right now

 **[22:27] hackkker23** : you’ve been talking to me for weeks. That ship has sailed

 **[22:27] hackkker23** : and i’ve never hacked ur office cams before

 **[22:28] LM-2318-9-102** : so you can see me right now?

 **[22:28] hackkker23** : the other camera

 **[22:29] hackkker23** : yea that one

 **[22:30] LM-2318-9-102** : that’s so weird. You know my name and my face and yo probably know my social security number by now

 **[22:30] hackkker23** : not yet. Still waiting on those codes btw

 **[22:30] LM-2318-9-102** : i know nothing bout you. That’s not fair

 **[22:32] hackkker23** : i have a brother

 **[22:32] LM-2318-9-102** : wow yes. That’s great. Exactly the type of info i wanted

 **[22:33] hackkker23** : i’m not exactly running a dating site profile

 **[22:34] LM-2318-9-102** : okay but do u have a tinder account?

 **[22:34] hackkker23** : no

 **[22:34] hackkker23** : don’t get your phone

 **[22:34] hackkker23** : dude

 **[22:35] LM-2318-9-102** : my tinder profile pic.

 **[22:36] hackkker23** : ...

 **[22:36] hackkker23** : i hacked into area 51 private messaging system and could probably hack into the main server too

 **[22:37] hackkker23** : for all u know i could murder ur wife and child

 **[22:37] LM-2318-9-102** : nah. I’m single and bi ;)

 **[22:38] hackkker23** : i just wanted aliens... why r u flirting with me?

 **[22:38] LM-2318-9-102** : kinda hoping i annoy you away and ngl also kinda hoping to score a date. You sound fun.

 **[22:39] hackkker23** : YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT ME!

 **[22:39] LM-2318-9-102** : you have a brother and i’m gonna assume you’re a dude judging by how you text

 **[22:40] hackkker23** : I guessed ur name right. Now tell me what’s happening.

 **[22:40] LM-2318-9-102** : dude i work in net security. I know shit about what’s happening.

[ **hackkker23** has left the chat]

 

1 month later

 **[22:21] hackkker23** : feeling negotiable tonight?

 **[22:21] LM-2318-9-102** : you’re not getting the codes.

 **[22:21] LM-2318-9-102** : but

 **[22:22] LM-2318-9-102** : you can have my number.

 **[22:22] hackkker23** : want me to pass it onto my grandma or something?

 **[22:22] LM-2318-9-102** : Ha. Ha. You’re so funny.

 **[22:23] LM-2318-9-102** : thought you might want to text instead of hacking into the private messaging and then deleting traces. You know? Like a normal person?

 **[22:23] hackkker23** : no one said i’m normal

 **[22:24] LM-2318-9-102** : clearly

 **[22:24] LM-2318-9-102** : what brings you here tonight, aside from the codes?

 **[22:25] hackkker23** : you didn’t finish telling me about the fishing trip with your brother before your shift was up last time

 **[22:27] LM-2318-9-102** : you still want to hear that?

 **[22:27] hackkker23** : yeah.

 

2 months later

 **[21:54] hackkker23** : hey lance

 **[21:55] LM-2318-9-102** : i’m starting to think you’re not good enough to hack in

 **[21:55] hackkker23** : i don’t actually want anyone fired because i’m being an ass

 **[21:55] LM-2318-9-102** : i figured something by the way. Your initials are KK

 **[21:56] hackkker23** : congratulations. Only took you four months

 **[21:56] LM-2318-9-102** : Kevin?

 **[21:56] hackkker23** : no

 **[21:56] LM-2318-9-102** : Kaden?

 **[21:56] hackkker23** : no

 **[21:56] LM-2318-9-102** : Kinkade? Keaton?

 **[21:57] hackkker23** : what makes you think i’m a guy?

 **[21:57] LM-2318-9-102** : you’ve never denied it before. Are you a girl?

 **[21:58] hackkker23** : why do u look disappointed at the possibility that i’m a girl?

 **[21:59] LM-2318-9-102** : i’ve been building my image of you around the idea that you’re a guy! I don’t wanna reconstruct it all again

 **[21:59] hackkker23** : why do i look like?

 **[22:00] LM-2318-9-102** : pale skin from sitting inside all day, hacking into places. Not enough vitamin D if you know what i mean ;) *wink wink nudge nudge*

 **[22:01] hackkker23** : pale yes. Vitamin D, i get plenty thanks -_-

 **[22:01] LM-2318-9-102** : 1. Don’t believe you

 **[22:01] LM-2318-9-102** : 2. You’re a nerdy conspiracy theorist judging by your unhealthy interest in aliens so maybe- wait

 **[22:01] LM-2318-9-102** : GASP

 **[22:01] LM-2318-9-102** : ARE you an alien? Are you trying to get home???

 **[22:02] hackkker23** : haha yeah. You got me. I’m waiting for my alien mother to pick me up from this ball of dirt

 **[22:02] hackkker23** : tell me. what else do you think i look like?

 **[22:04] LM-2318-9-102** : purple

 **[22:04] hackkker23** : ???

 **[22:04] hackkker23** : r u... r u speaking from actual encounters with aliens in area 51?

 **[22:05] LM-2318-9-102** : lol dude chill. I just think we’re being really offensive when we paint all aliens as green creatures with giant heads you know?

 **[22:05] LM-2318-9-102** : what if they’re purple? What if they’re furry?

 **[22:06] hackkker23** : what if they’re walking noodles?

 **[22:07] LM-2318-9-102** : um. okay. Whatever flies your UFO

 **[22:07] LM-2318-9-102** : point is. They can’t all be green. Equal representation in media is mucho importante

 **[22:12] LM-2318-9-102** : hello? KK?

 **[22:14] LM-2318-9-102** : still there?

 **[22:14] hackkker23** : keep going. What do i look like to you?

 **[22:15] LM-2318-9-102** : ... i’m talking to you about aliens, your possible relatives, and yet you’re strangely hung up on this

 **[22:15] LM-2318-9-102** : are you okay?

 **[22:18] hackkker23** : check ur phone

 **[22:18] LM-2318-9-102** : i only see tinder notification

 **[22:19] LM-2318-9-102** : HOLY SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT

 **[22:19] LM-2318-9-102** : IS THAT YOU????

 **[22:19] LM-2318-9-102** : YOU ARE NOTHING LIKE I IMAGINED!

 **[22:19] LM-2318-9-102** : KEITH KOGANE, YOU ARE NOT A DIRTY HERMIT WITH GREASY HAIR AND HARRY POTTER GLASSES

 **[22:20] LM-2318-9-102** : YOU’RE BEAUTIFUL!

 **[22:20] LM-2318-9-102** : wait. Is that a mullet?

 **[22:20] hackkker23** : what no!

 **[22:20] LM-2318-9-102** : it totally is a mullet.

 **[22:21] hackkker23** : iS NOT!

 **[22:21] LM-2318-9-102** : no, that is definitely a mullet

 **[22:22] LM-2318-9-102** : it’s okay, Keith. At least you’re not a furry purple alien.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This part was such a mess but it's nothing compared to what's coming next. I've been giving too much fluff so tomorrow, it's time for a sprinkle of angst. 
> 
> Anyone has any requests, please hit me up in comments or on tumblr @[hano-does-fandoms](https://hano-does-fandoms.tumblr.com)


	8. Day 8 - Garrison

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While on a mission to stalk one Pidge Gunderson, Lance encounters someone he thought he’d never see again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is so rushed, I'm so sorry.

  Being friends with Lance is like riding a plane with a madman. One has no idea if or when he’ll push you off to your death. Hunk is terrified of anything that flies and needless to say, Lance is really, really bad for his heart.

  “Lance, why must you do this, man?” Hunk whines, bumping into a recycling bin in the dark hallway. At least he doesn’t have to hide in one. “Why can’t we just leave him alone?”

  Lance shushes him with a glare before turning back to the corridor he’s peeking at. “We gotta bust him.”

  Hunk groans again for the eighth time that night. For some reasons Lance has it in his head that Pidge Gunderson is hiding something from them and he’s taken upon himself to find out what. Hunk isn’t going to deny that Pidge could be hiding something (he found tampons in his bag) but it’s not their place to go snooping. Well. Not that Hunk can really talk but he was only looking for chocolate bars, okay? The tampons were an unexpected and unintentional find.

  He tries to reason with his madman friend again to just go back to their rooms and not get caught but Lance slaps a hand over his mouth as the door of their target slides open. Out comes the small cadet, a bag slung over his shoulder, owlish eyes scanning the hallways in a highly suspicious manner. When he’s satisfied there’s no one watching in the dark ( _thinks_ there’s no one watching) he’s tip-toeing off, pulling the straps of his bag towards the centre.

  “Come on, Hunk,” Lance whispers, dragging Hunk along, despite the quiet protests with words like ‘detention’ and ‘Iverson’ and ‘I don’t wanna disappoint my mama’.

  When has Lance ever listened to the voice of reason?

  With Hunk complaining under his breath the whole way through, making his stance on this whole stalking thing _very_ clear, the two follow Gunderson from a safe distance all the way to the roof of the Garrison where no students are allowed ever. The entire time Hunk is ready for someone on patrol to kick them into detention for the next two weeks.

  This time, unlike most times Lance ropes him into sneaking out, they don’t get caught. In fact, it seems surprisingly easy to get to the staircase leading to the roof, spying through the little gap of the trap door.

  “We have visual on target, sighted and locked,” Lance whispers. “Unidentified person approaching target.”

  “Lance, stop it. I knew letting you watch those movies was a bad idea.”

  “S _hhhhh._ Who’s that with Gunderson?”

  Hunk peers out but the blinding light from the posts make the two nothing but dark, featureless figures. It seems to be a male, taller than Pidge, helping him take things out of the bag and setting them up around them in a semi-circle. They look like machines and- Is that a tiny transmission dish?

  “Hunk, you can geek out later,” Lance hisses, face suddenly changing and Hunk realises this is all going to go downhill from there.

  Before he can stop Lance from doing anything he usually does – which mainly consists of making rash decisions that land them in trouble – Lance is gone, throwing the door open and climbing out of their hiding spot. Great.

  Hunk shrieks and clambers after a very determined Lance, ready to do some damage control, but for someone shorter than him, Lance sure has long legs, putting a few feet between them.

  “Gunderson, what are you doing...here?”

  And maybe Hunk should’ve paid more attention instead of trying to grab at Lance. Then he might’ve actually seen the reason for his words trailing off into a barely audible whisper and he might’ve lunged at Lance before he could see _him_ sitting beside Pidge. As it is, Hunk is late to realise what’s happening, bumping into Lance who’s stopped dead in his tracks. And _then_ he sees Keith staring up at Lance, and Lance staring down at him, both of them looking as if all the wind has left their lungs.

  Heck, it’s left Hunk’s lungs.

  No one says a word.

  Hunk holds his breath, trying to pick up what Lance is thinking but his face is blank, steeled, an expression he learnt from Keith that Hunk really, really hates.

  “Uh,” Pidge says after a while, looking between the three of them in confusion. “What’s going on? Do you know each other?”

  Lance doesn’t say a word. Keith doesn’t say a word.

  Hunk chuckles awkwardly. “We’re, um, we were all friends.” And that is putting it mildly but Lance flinches. “How do you two know each other? What are you up to?”

  Keith clears his throat, tearing his gaze away from Lance. “We’re scanning for deep-space transmission.”

  “Why?”

  “The Kerberos mission,” Pidge answers. “Commander Holt is my father and Matthew Holt is my brother. Keith and I are searching for answers about the Kerberos mission because no one will say anything.”

  At this moment Hunk realises that Pidge Gunderson is actually Katie Holt, a name known throughout the whole compound for being banned on the premises. Any other time Lance would probably be freaking out that Pidge is a girl but not now.

  “The Kerberos mission,” he says quietly, a little bitterly too if Hunk knows that tone. He looks away, jaws grinding. “Of course it’s the Kerberos mission. Left without a goodbye and now you won’t even say hello. Why did I ever bother?”

  Hunk grimaces as Lance starts to walk off, hands shoved into his pockets. Keith doesn’t need Hunk’s pointed looks for him to stand and chase after Lance, a hand latching on his elbow to stop him.

  “I’m sorry,” Keith breathes, pained and awkward. “I just-”

  “Let me go,” Lance snaps, yanking his elbow out. “Whatever it is you’re doing back here, I don’t care anymore. I’m done. _We’re_ done and we’ve done since you got yourself expelled and didn’t have the decency to even tell me before flying off into the sunset like I didn’t even exist to you!”

  Lance is furious by the end and Keith’s face is a mix between guilt and anger, a terrible mix when it comes to these two. Hunk quickly jumps in between them, pushing himself right into the tense glares of flaming daggers.

  “Guys, please,” he tries to console. “I’m sure we all have questions and explanations we want to throw out. Why don’t we do that quietly like mature teenagers we all are so that we don’t get caught and this place doesn’t end up in flames?”

  Pidge seems to want to disappear from the scene, rocking back and forth on her feet awkwardly, eyeing her equipment before quickly deciding she wants no part in this anymore and goes to sit down. Keith and Lance keep glaring at each other until Keith sighs, shoulders sagging. Lance’s shoulders follow and all his feelings wash over his face like a dam broke.

  “I know I hurt you,” Keith begins.

  Lance shakes his head. “You can’t hurt me if I don’t care about you.”

  The tears shining in his eyes say otherwise. Lance didn’t cry when news came round that Keith was no longer at the Garrison. He was more shocked than anything, marching up to Professor Wright, the closest person Keith had to family after Shiro, and demanding an explanation that Keith didn’t bother to give. Keith didn’t answer any of the messages and Lance later found that he left his communicator at the Garrison.

  Then Lance was angry, so angry that for weeks he holed himself up in the shooting range or the gym punching the crap out of sandbags. He didn’t talk to many people and when he did talk, it was short and clipped and impatient so people learnt to avoid him. His grades slipped and he went from battling Keith for first place to the bottom of the class. Nothing Hunk or Veronica did was going to fix the hole Keith left in Lance’s heart and for a long time Hunk hated Keith for it, for leaving Lance a shell of his loud, bubbly self.

  Then one day Lance flipped everything around like nothing had ever happened, like Keith had never happened. He flirted around again. He made somewhat distasteful jokes. He laughed and smiled and snuck out, dragging Hunk along. He somehow fooled himself into being fine again, which was even worse than being angry and hurt. But not once had Lance ever cried through any of that.

  Now Keith is back again and Lance can’t pretend he never happened when he’s standing right there.

  Keith says, “Tell me one good thing I ever did for you.”

  “Nothing. Not one thing.”

  “Exactly. Lance, I’m not good enough for you and everyone knew it. Adam knew it, I knew it. How many more detentions did you get because of me? How many people told you you were making the wrong friends? Me coming back into your life is possibly the worst thing-”

  “Are you actually that dumb?” Lance looks like he might really be questioning Keith’s intelligence. (Honestly, Hunk is too. What sort of bullshit did he just sprout?) “That was the biggest lie I’ve ever told. You were the _best_ thing that ever happened to me, Keith.”

  Hunk only takes mild offence to that as Lance keeps going. “You don’t know what it felt like when you came up to me that day and said, ‘Good job.’ Jesus, I thought I was going die because you finally noticed my pathetic ass trying to make you see me by beating your simulator score. You made me want to do better, be better. You believed in me when I doubted myself. You made me _happy_. And if you think that’s somehow bad for me? Fine. Just leave again.”

  Keith takes a shaky breath like he’s trying to pull his thoughts together. Then he takes a step forward. “That day, I lost the closest person I had to family. You know how...terrified I am of people disappearing from life.”

  “So you disappear from mine?”

  “I didn’t mean to,” he says, looking at Lance from between his bangs. Hunk feels the softness of his gaze even though it’s not for him. Keith won’t say more because he’s probably spoken more about his feelings, left them open, than he ever has before. But he takes another step forward, a gloved hand gingerly reaching for Lance’s face.

  For a moment Hunk worries that Lance might slap the hand away but he doesn’t. He lets Keith touch his face, closing his eyes and the tears fall, streaking down his cheeks.

  It takes a phenomenal amount of self-control for Hunk to not push Keith away for making his best friend cry, to watch as Keith draws closer, cupping Lance’s hands and wiping the tears with his thumb.

  “I never meant to hurt you,” Keith whispers.

  “Well, you did.”

  “I know.”

  “Did you _ever_ stop and think about how I felt? Did I even matter, Keith?”

  “Of course you do, Lance. You know you do. But I barely know how to love and you...you deserve more than my absolute wreck of a dropout life that’s not going anywhere.”

  Lance glares, though he doesn’t try to move out of Keith’s hands yet. “Well, that wasn’t up for you to decide! Look- Not coming back? Fine, that’s okay. It hurts you to come here. I get it. But leaving without a word? That’s low.”

  “I know.”

  “What was I supposed to do? Just wait forever for someone who vanished my life like he was never in it?”

  Keith swallows thickly. “You were supposed to move on, fall in love with someone better.”

  Lance’s face twists in disbelief, leaning even closer to Keith to make him look at Lance. “Move on?”

  “Didn’t you?”

  “I hate you,” Lance spits.

  Hunk opens his mouth to argue that he doesn’t mean it but Keith beats him to it with a soft, “I know.”

  “You’re a jerk.”

  “I know.”

  “Your hair is still stupid.”

  “Is it really?”

  Pidge gives a dumbfounded look over her shoulder. Hunk shrugs at her and she turns back to her laptop.

 Lance growls, “I haven’t forgiven you. If you’ve been coming back to the Garrison, why didn’t you come and see me?” The crack in his voice runs alongside the sliver of relief he’s finally letting through now.

  Keith swallows and looks down at their feet. “I thought you’d hate me.”

  “I do hate you.”

  “I really am sorry,” Keith says. “I’ve had a lot of time to think these past few months. I realised that I caused enough trouble for you that it’s probably better if I just... Stayed away.”

  Lance sniffles, holding Keith’s chin to make him look up. “Did you stay away for me or for yourself?”

  “Both.”

  Keith has once said, “If there’s no one in my life, I won’t hurt anyone and no one will hurt me.”

  Both Hunk and Lance soundly lectured him on why that was incredibly stupid and how they’re never going to leave Keith that he’d get so sick of them.

  “You never listen to me, do you? You’re an idiot,” Lance says, lowering his hand.

  Keith takes that as a cue for him to withdraw his palms from Lance’s face too.

  “You’re both idiots,” Pidge pipes.

  “That’s true,” Hunk agrees.

  Keith and Lance ignore them, which, okay. That’s fair. Hunk probably should’ve stopped standing around and eavesdropping on their moment a while ago but they’re both such dense dummies they usually need a middle man to spell things out for them.

  “What now?” Lance asks. “Are you coming here regularly?”

  “Yeah. We’ve been picking up some things and... I have to do this, Lance.”

  Lance settles his hands on his hips and makes an annoyed face. “Great. I’m going to be seeing your stupid mullet around here again.”

  “Or you won’t,” Pidge interrupts, “if you don’t stalk me and Keith.”

  Hunk snorts at the absurd prospect that Lance McClain won’t be stalking Keith Kogane across campus, no matter how pissed he’s at him.

  “Not a chance,” Lance says, leaving Keith and Hunk to squat next to Pidge, peering at all the screens she has up. “Mullet has a lot of making up to do and I’m not letting him out of sight again.”

  Keith looks at Lance’s back with a tiny, conflicted smile like he’s half hoping and half squashing that hope. “Are you really going to get involved in my mess again?”

  Lance mutters without turning around, “As if your mess ever left me.”

  Translation for those who don’t speak Keith and Lance;

  Keith: “Will you let me back into your life?”

  Lance: “You never left.”

  Hunk clasps Keith on the back and gives a smile. Lance might deny all he wants, he might still be hurt by what Keith did but it’s clear that he’s still happy to have Keith back and he can’t hide it from his best friend. Sure, Keith probably has a ton of grovelling to do with endless Taco Bell bribery and possibly a few sonnets, and Lance is definitely going to milk it out of him but that’s Lance and Keith. Hunk expects nothing less.

  They’re the densest, dumbest people he’s has ever met and maybe they have a long road ahead of them but together, they’ll get to where they need. Eventually.

  “Welcome back, Keith.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unless someone has a specific thing they'd like me to write tomorrow (Movie of Choice) I don't think I'll be writing anything for that so I apologise in advance.


	9. Day 14 - Soulmates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The little heart on Keith's wrist has been a rich shade of red the whole of Valentine's Day, his soulmate's warm affection spreading through him, and he makes a decision that could possibly change his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! And yes, I'm alive. 
> 
> This little titbit is actually from a story that I fully plan to develop and write. *side-eyes the number of fics i still need to finish* In this AU, soulmates share an empathetic bond that forms in mid-to-late teen years should a person have a soulmate, but that's really where it stops. There's no easy way to recognise who one's soulmate would be, which means that our idiot boys are in for a bit of a ride.

  Keith knows what today is. Keith is pretending it’s not that day. It’s not that he hates it or anything that extreme even if it is kind of annoying to see everyone parading around with roses in their hands or boxes of chocolates. Okay, maybe it’s a lot more annoying when girls are trying to catch his eye and some outright approaching him with a rose or so despite his best efforts to glare at anyone who even tries to come close to him.

  His foster sister Jamie rolls her eyes the entire day whenever she passes him glowering through the school halls and Keith gives her a middle finger or two. It’s not like he asked for people to fall at his feet and block his way to the damned maths class.

  But that’s every other year.

  This year he’s pretending it’s not the cursed V-Day for an entirely different reason; the little blue heart on the inside of his wrist that’s currently a ruby-red and pulsing a ridiculous amount of affection through him. Gross.

  “For god’s sake, Keith, just send something back,” Jamie pesters when she finds Keith peeking under the edge of his glove at the kitchen table. “Not everyone is lucky enough to have a soulmate and you’re being a complete ass to them.”

  “Am not,” Keith mumbles, shoving the rest of his sandwich into his mouth. “They’re being annoying to me.”

  Jamie gags. “Don’t talk with your mouth full.”

  Keith purposefully chews with his mouth open so she would leave him alone. She does, slinking back into her room.

  He goes back to staring at the heart beneath the leather. It’s been coursing warmth through him the entire day, a lot more than usual that Keith regrets responding to them at all. For months and months he went without even acknowledging the changes in colour and the little bits of emotions that weren’t his. At the relatively young age of fourteen, he had a heart – a soulmate and he didn’t want it. It was a curse and he wanted it gone and he was determined to disregard its existence altogether.

  And it worked, for a while.

  Despite Keith’s total lack of response to any of their empathetic messages (e-messages, Jamie says), his soulmate never stopped sending them daily that Keith... Try as he might to ignore it, he got used to feeling little bursts of warmth in the mornings, at night and littered throughout the day. So much so that when days went by without feeling anything, the little heart a pale blue, he couldn’t help sending down a thought.

  _Are you okay?_

  Would his soulmate feel concern or something else? It’s what he was going for but once you decide to send something down that bond, only true feelings will show. Even with Keith’s little knowledge of soulmates, he knew that much.

  Whatever his soulmate felt from him, their response was such a bright, blinding ecstatic that tore through Keith like lightning he had to lean against his bedroom wall, trying to sort through the all-encapsulating happiness and joy, sight of bright yellow on his wrist making him dizzy.

  Logically, Keith knew that thoughts didn’t make it through the bond but he swore he heard his soulmate’s excited, _You’re here!_

  Since then, his soulmate hasn’t shut up. It was like an encouragement for them to open up the dam and smash down the gates. It’s incessant, ceaseless, overwhelming and baffling how much his soulmate feels, how much affection he has to give. Keith wouldn’t send anything down the bond but just from the colour of their heart, his soulmate would always be there to send what Keith craves in that moment, especially a calming presence when he’s angry and comfort when upset.

  At first Keith simply let it be, reluctantly allowing them to lift his spirits a little bit. Then he would occasionally send his gratitude because he didn’t want to be too rude. In the case he ever met his soulmate, he didn’t exactly want to be spat on for being an ungrateful jerk.

  But then somehow he found himself reaching out of his own will once in a while. Not often, maybe once a month, and definitely nothing like affection. Any that he received always went unanswered. After all, this was some complete stranger that he’d never met, might never meet if fate was cruel. He certainly didn’t want to send the wrong message that he might feel anything of that sort for them.

  No, anything Keith sent was akin to reassurance that douses the flames of doubt that seemed to plague his soulmate often, and perhaps try to comfort sadness. But he’d never been the comforting type so god knew how _that_ went. Once or twice, he’d receive a string of happiness that he might’ve wrapped his own around just briefly, just for a heartbeat.

  Keith tugs his glove up a little bit to really look at the red heart. Red for affection, red for love, red for anger. He hopes it’s the last one but knows for certain that it’s not. Then he leaves it alone for the rest of the evening, hiding the heart under his glove again and ignoring Jamie’s pointed looks from across the dinner table when Keith subconsciously touches his wrist.

  As he lies in bed that night, he puts his wrist under the strip of light that pours across his bed from the crack of his door that doesn’t quite close properly. The red has started to dim and the accompanying waves of feelings mix with uncertainty and dwindling hope. Keith stares and stares at his bare wrist a different shade of colour from the rest of his arm, a debate roaring loud in his head.

  To reply or not to reply.

  The heart has gone a light shade of blue, cold and void of feelings from the other end.

 Without much thought, Keith swipes a thumb across the heart and shoots a burst of warmth through and thinks, _Happy Valentine’s Day_.

  The answering tenderness helps him sleep a little better but if anyone asks, he’ll say it’s the new pair of pyjamas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Feedback is always very much appreciated.  
> You can stalk me on tumblr at [hano-does-fandoms](https://hano-does-fandoms.tumblr.com)


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